Engine Cranes - Experiences With Cheaper Brands?

[Alan_M 66 1 Cars]

Currently looking at buying an engine crane (May have a BMW engine and box to remove!), the folding type due to limited space in my garages. Machine Mart want £165 if I wait for one of their VAT free days, but there are several unknown brands available on Amazon for around £100 such as this one. Manufacturer D2B and looks like a Sealey/Clarke rip-off.

 

Opinions?

[trogboy 17]

I have a cheepo no-brand 2 tonne crane and for the amount of use it gets I have no complaints. Looks just like the one you've linked to and has coped admirably with lifting in and out the 2.5lt iron block diahatsu engine together with the box that I have in my Land Rover. Simple bits of kit really.

[toolie72 67 1 Cars]

Eh gonna sound dodgy here!

I changed 205 engine with an old mobility hoist, cheap as chips on eBay

[lagonda 42]

A friend (Morris 8 owner) was given a crane by the local old people's home that had been intended and used for lifting fat old ladies out of the bath.

 

He loaned it to me for lifting the engine out of my Dad's then car, a 1964 Rover 2000. It did the job.....just. It was a race between cranking and the jib slowly bending under the strain!

[barneys66 122 1 Cars]

Go for a two tonne if you can - better load at full extension, should you ever need it, for presumably not much more..

[trogboy 17]

Don't underestimate how much storage space they take up though. The 2 tonne is probably a chunk bigger than a 1 tonne - happy to lend you mine for a while as I'll get some of my garage back.

[barneys66 122 1 Cars]

According to Amazon they're the same dimensionally, only 10% heavier.

 

Great offer to the OP though !

[Alan_M 66 1 Cars]

Don't underestimate how much storage space they take up though. The 2 tonne is probably a chunk bigger than a 1 tonne - happy to lend you mine for a while as I'll get some of my garage back.

 

Yes, I previously borrowed one from Rob the Sparky which took more room than I thought it would. Scratched my 205 wing on the boom too.

 

According to Amazon they're the same dimensionally, only 10% heavier.

 

Great offer to the OP though !

 

Great offer......are you referring to the units on Amazon? (Thanks to Trogboy and Anthony for the offer of the loan by the way). I may have to take one of you up on the offer, to get my BMW head gasket on the way. A straight six head is not a one man lift!

[barneys66 122 1 Cars]

Great offer......are you referring to the units on Amazon? (Thanks to Trogboy and Anthony for the offer of the loan by the way). I may have to take one of you up on the offer, to get my BMW head gasket on the way. A straight six head is not a one man lift!

No - the offer from Trogboy to lend you his crane! Good man

[trogboy 17]

It is the season of good cheer, and I'd like to think that we are a community, even if I've not been about or contributing much for the last 5 plus years.

 

In my experience most people are genuinely trustworthy and honest so I don't see that lending to established forum members is really a risk or a big deal. More praiseworthy are people who actually give time, answering queries on here, or even helping with the physical work involved in this game.

 

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[Tom Fenton 1,542]

I agree with your sentiment but sadly I've been bitten a few times lending tools spares or equipment out never to be seen again. These days I will lend stuff out so long as the person borrowing leaves me a returnable cash deposit that will allow me to buy a new one of whatever it is should they not return it. Cynical maybe, but everything comes back!

[dcc 855]

I was able to see the problem with cheap tools first hand recently, helping a mate do some press work on a clarke copy 12ton press. It bent and flexed under just 4ton pressure. Pile of s*it.

[dobboy 231 2 Cars]

I get a lot of our works hydraulic tools calibrated at a hydraulic place. I spoke to the guy about cheap cranes and he advised me to stay clear of them.

 

However, worse case, replacement Rams seem quite cheap, so if the metalwork/welding looks good on them then it's probably worth the risk in buying one if its only going to get used once in a blue moon. I'd be expecting the unexpected when using it right enough until it's proved itself.

 

Personally I'd be looking for a used known branded one locally on Gumtree etc but they seem to hold their money quite well.